hotfoot

American  

[hot-foot] / ˈhɒtˌfʊt /

noun

• hotfoots
  plural

1. a practical joke in which a match, inserted surreptitiously between the sole and upper of the victim's shoe, is lighted and allowed to burn down.

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verb (used without object)

1. Informal. to go in great haste; walk or run hurriedly or rapidly (often followed byit ).

   to hotfoot it to the bus stop.

adverb

1. with great speed in going; in haste.

hotfoot British  

/ ˈhɒtˌfʊt /

adverb

1. with all possible speed; quickly

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verb

1. to move quickly

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hotfoots
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of hotfoot

1250–1300; Middle English hot fot (adv.). See hot, foot

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hotfoot hotfoots

I decided to take time off work the very next day and hotfoot it to Tel Aviv, to get ahead of any competitors.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 7, 2019

So, what say you and me hotfoot it to the airport and get on to that plane.

From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2018

One measly hotfoot, and you are out on your butt.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 23, 2015

As soon as he can, he will hotfoot it to the South Dade Regional Library, 30-odd minutes away, for the day’s second early-vote rally.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2012

A hotfoot wasn’t going to bother a creature that was perfectly comfortable lying on a bed of coals.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

A University of Chicago dropout, she hotfoots it to New York on the strength of a Greyhound hookup.

From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2021

As this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing hotfoots its way towards crowning its winner, reigning champ Joe McFadden professes to not feeling too glum about giving up the glitterball.

From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2018

When the boss of a job wants help, he does not go to Boise; Morrison or one of his lieutenants hotfoots it out to the job.

From Time Magazine Archive

Unlike The Goonies, whose narrative is a rapid succession of hotfoots, Back to the Future has a long fuse that, halfway through, explodes into comic epiphany.

From Time Magazine Archive

And get this: hotfoot becomes hotfoots, and still life becomes still lifes.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

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